A magnetoresistive head is a sensing or reading head which utilizes magnetoresistive elements to sense or read magnetic information inherent in a magnetic medium. A magnetoresistive element is one whose electrical resistance varies with varying incident magnetic fields.
Many prior art magnetic heads, for a great many applications including coin sensing, determining the contents of a coin tube, currency and bill validation, and determination of the denomination of paper currency or other forms of scrip, are of the inductive type which require a rapidly changing magnetic field in order for magnetic information to be detected and recorded. Magnetoresistive heads, on the other hand, are capable of detecting and reading information inherent in a slowly moving or stationary magnetic field. Prior art magnetoresistive heads are typically difficult to fabricate and consequently, relatively expensive.